Safety

Rural roads carry approximately 40 percent of the vehicle-miles traveled in the United
States, yet annually account for nearly 55 percent of the fatalities.  To address the
challenges of rural safety, the U.S. Department of Transportation (USDOT) kicked-off
the Rural Safety Initiative in February 2008.  The focus of the Rural Safety Initiative is to
highlight available options to help reduce fatalities and injuries on rural roads.   

One element of the Rural Safety Initiative is the Rural Safety Innovation Program (RSIP).  
The goal of the RSIP is to improve rural road safety by assisting rural communities in
addressing highway safety problems and by providing rural communities the opportunity
to compete for project funding to address these problems.  This paper provides an
overview and current status of the individual Intelligent Transportation Systems (ITS)
projects funded through the RSIP.

United States Department of Transportation

Noblis

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

Traffic safety and efficiency of roadway work zones have been
considered to be one of the major concerns in highway traffic safety and operations in
Florida. ITS-based lane management strategies were introduced to work zones to
enhance both the safety and the mobility of drivers. Previous research referred to
work zone lane management strategies as dynamic lane merging. The dynamic lane
merging, can take two forms; dynamic early merge and dynamic late merge. This
study aims at deploying these two forms of dynamic lane merging in a 3 to 2 lane
closure configuration work zone and assesses the effect of the latter on the traffic
safety and operations at the work zone. Data was collected extensively which enabled
us to compare safety and operational  Measures of Effectiveness (MOE) under
different demand volumes. The temporal speed fluctuation at the location of the
Remote Traffic Microwave Sensor (RTMS) of the work zone and the capacity of the
work zone under the control (MAS) and test MOT plans (early and late dynamic lane
merge) were compared. Results showed that the early and late dynamic lane merges
have the potential to enhance safety as well as operations in Florida work zones. The
early and late SDLMS performed better than the regular MAS MOT plan. Evaluating
safety and operational measures of effectiveness, we concluded that the dynamic early
merge performs best under low volumes and the dynamic late merge performs best
under heavier volumes.

University of Central Florida

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

Speeding is a significant contributor to a significant portion of highway collisions, for work
zones in particular. Automated speed enforcement is one potential solution to reduce the number of collisions in work zones where speeding is a persistent problem. This paper describes a recent study that was undertaken to assess the technical performance of work-zone automated speed enforcement (ASE) equipment in the field. Several commercially-off-the-shelf traffic monitoring devices, along with a selective ASE system, RWASS, were field tested at selected study sites in California. The study site was located on a rural two-lane highway, where speeding appeared to be common. The RWASS tends to yield a lower measured value of speed measurement, with a mean differential of less than 1 mph.  The standard deviation of the speed differential is between 3 to 4 mph. The assessment of technical performance of ASE and other traffic monitoring devices can offer insights in the process of  validating functional characteristics and seeking performance enhancements. The outcome of this study will provide valuable support for future ASE implementation.

University of California, Berkeley

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

Car accident prevention designed to reduce injury and fatality numbers focuses on
technology and changing human behavior while behind the wheel. Modern cars and
trucks are equipped with air bags, and proximity and drift monitors are becoming more
common as well. ITS has historically taken their focus on these important hardware
technologies. But changing driver behaviors to reduce accidents is a tougher nut to crack
- especially in the United States, and ITS should take a role in helping that tough nut by
looking at ways that technology can directly affect safety by enhancing the drivers
behavior. The aviation industry has been successful in focusing safety on changing pilot
or “driver” behavior and has successfully made air travel the safest mode of travel,
largely by the use of technology. Americans believe they are born knowing how to drive
and believe they are “good” drivers resulting in a sense of invulnerability. The lack of
truly proficient drivers and effective driving skills are reasons why accidental injuries
from car collisions in America are bucking the worldwide downward trend. This attitude
by American drivers becomes especially a challenge for commercial drivers and law
enforcement drivers, who beyond regular car driving are operating extreme vehicles
under extreme, often dangerous situations.

University of Central Florida

Paper submitted for publication and presentation at the ITS America’s 2009 Annual Meeting and Exposition

Concurrent Technologies Corporation (CTC) is pleased to submit this technical paper titled “Hazardous Materials (HAZMAT) and the First Responder” in response to a call for papers for the Intelligent Transportation Society of America’s 20^th Annual Meeting and Exposition.  This paper discusses the use of Radio Frequency Identification (RFID) Enhanced HAZMAT Placards and Integrated Intermodal Hazardous Cargo Tracking.  This paper will also discuss the need to invest in advanced RFID technology that will meet the needs of the Department of Transportation (DOT) for the transportation of hazardous cargo, the transportation industry providing a return on investment (ROI), and the first responder with the ability to identify and react to an accident or incident involving HAZMAT.

Special Operations Science and Technology

Presented at the ITS America Annual Conference and Exposition, May 3-5, 2010, Houston, Texas